Old benchtop lathe identification?

[John Moore 16Participant @johnmoore16]

Here are a few photos of my father’s old benchtop lathe. I can’t find a manufacturer’s name on it anywhere. It was bought in Australia, probably in the 1930’s. An early Myford knock-off? I do intend to get it running and am curious as to its origins. The lighting is not great in the phots, I’m afraid. I do appreciate any help. Thanks.

 

John

 

[Brian WoodParticipant @brianwood45127]

It certainly has early ( ML4 or even ML2 ) Myford features, but I suspect it is an Australian made copy. Nothing wrong with that, some of the clones were every bit as good as the originals.

Regards   Brian

 

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

One of the many RANDA clones I think.

Measure the back gear very carefully – if it is 60 tooth but just bigger than 20DP and not quite matching a standard Myford changewheel that is a clue.

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Have you found lathes.co.uk yet?   Excellent site, covering a huge range of mostly Western lathes?

The pictures are of a generic type made by many different makers before WW2, and often rebadged.   Sometimes marked with a name or country of origin, sometimes not.  Mostly British, but could be German.   Might be an Australian copy, but I’d guess an import.

This example is a RANDA Type ‘B’.

Have a read of the RANDA entry on lathes.co.uk   Especially the comments on “cross-fertilization”

The worst of these machines were poorly made.  Most though seem to be capable and many are still giving good service today.   The breed disappeared after WW2 largely because the Myford ML7 was better value for money.,  The ML7 was a well-made modern machine that came with many improvements such as guards, an electric motor, precision dials, and other goodies.  Cost a bit more, but Myford’s timing was perfect – many ex-servicemen bought them with their war gratuity.

Dave

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi John Moore 16, as others have said, it looks very much like a RandA B type, and below are a couple of photos of a similar unbadged type.

This one below is my late father’s RandA B

 

As Bazyle has said, the 60 tooth gear wheel, which I’ve shown with the red arrow in your photo below, is slightly bigger, and a little thicker, on a RandA and many of the clones, than a standard change wheel.

Regards Nick.

[John Moore 16Participant @johnmoore16]

Thank you all for your replies! Yes it certainly does look like a RANDA.

 

I haven’t been able to count any teeth yet, but I will report back when I have 🙂

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